Toe

Did he say anything about RG? Seems that's the only spot that's still up for grabs.

<insert conspiracy theories about Missouri's AD trying to get in the way of OU & UT getting into the SEC and being forced to resign>

I think you might be mis-remembering some things? Their plan was to move to the Pac, not B1G, and it was Texas, not, A&M, that scuttled it because the Pac wouldn't let them have their own network.

Plaid terrible, eh?

You're welcome.

Scheme will only get you so far. At some point, it's not about the Xs & Os, it's about the Jimmies & Joes.

The AAU seems to be more of a Mensa-like Mutual Admiration Society than anything. Perlman mentioned that being a part of the Big Ten Academic Aliance (formerly the CIC) had much more direct, concrete benefits for UNL than the AAU did. The only thing the AAU really did for us was, well, help us get into the Big Ten.

Most of the problem has been getting the roster right. Frost's best offense at Nebraska was in his first year. That year, the offense was Martinez (Frost recruit), Spielman and Ozigbo (Riley recruits), and the rest of the offense (notably the line) was mostly made of Bo's recruits in their senior year. In the second year, the line took a huge nosedive when Bo's guys graduated and we were stuck with Riley's guys. Washington should have been our featured RB the last two years, and he showed plenty of flash, but he was kicked off the team. (And from the sound of things, the stuff he went to court over wasn't his only character issue.) The other problem is that Stanley Morgan graduated, and the best replacement we could come up with was Kanawai Noa, who didn't exactly wow anyone while he was here. Spielman and Wandale were both solid WRs, but they were both natural slot receivers, not guys who were speedy deep threats. In year three, the line was... mediocre? Approaching average? Which was actually a significant step up from 'dismal'. But the receiver problem got ugly following Spielman's departure. We were stuck with guys like Kade Warner, a former walk-on who played in all eight games, started in half of them, but only contributed 40 yards the entire season. And he was a team captain! If that doesn't shine an enormous spotlight on where the problem was, I don't know what does. And the RB situation may have been even worse. Our starter was Mills, who would probably make a great fullback, but not a great RB in this system. He had two great games, and that's about all he'll be remembered for. And our other RB was, uhh... a wide receiver. So what happened? Most (not all) of the things that some blame Martinez (and by extension Verduzco) for are really due to deficiencies in the guys around him. The line has shown improvement, and I think we'll be reasonably OK there going forward. (O-lines take longer to develop and gel as a unit than any other position.) It's still the WRs and RBs that stand out to me. The RB situation last year was alarming to me. Like I know there were some injuries and covid issues to deal with, but Held couldn't get anyone ready to play besides Mills? If we hadn't been stuck playing Wan'dale at RB, he'd probably still be here right now. I said in another thread, right now Held looks about like Keith Williams to me: lots of recruiting hype, but no production to show for it. The WRs have seen absolutely disgusting attrition. Tyjon Lindsey, Jaevon McQuitty, and Keyshawn Johnson Jr were all 4* WRs in Riley's last class who bailed with little to no production. The WRs in Frost's first few classes haven't fared any better. Jaron Woodyard, Darien Chase, Demariyon Houston, Jamie Nance, Marcus Flemming - all guys who were 4* WR recruits or damn near it who have bailed. Wan'dale was our highest-rated recruit in some time, but without any other decent WRs it was easy for opposing defenses to key on him. And of course, now he's gone. That's no less than nine potential star WRs who should be playing for us right now, but aren't. NINE! Imagine that depth chart! But instead we've been stuck with leftovers. And people wonder why our passing game has looked like dog s#!t at times. Hint: it ain't because of Martinez, it ain't because of Verduzco, it ain't because we run too many bubble screens, and it ain't because Frost needs to adjust his offense for the Big Ten. I'd really, really like to know what went so horribly wrong in the receivers room. One practice report I saw said we were barely even practicing deep passes last year because the coaches knew we didn't have the players for it. (This spring was supposedly very different.) Dumping Walters in favor of Lubbick didn't really fix the problem. Considering that, I think it's fair to assign at least some of the blame to Frost. (I also largely blame him for the Illinois and Minnesota games last year - there's just no excuse.) But simply pointing the finger at Frost doesn't explain why attrition has been so much worse at WR than elsewhere - he's the head coach of the whole team, not just the receivers. So what now? We've pulled in quite a few transfers at WR and RB, for obvious reasons. Will it help? RBs are probably the biggest mystery on the team heading into this season. We've got a group full of guys with lots of potential... and lots of injury history. It's probably not a question of who's the best RB on the team, but rather who can stay healthy. I would expect to see several different starters throughout the year, and an 'RB by committee' approach. It looks like the starting WRs will be Manning, Toure, and Martin. I think that should be a pretty solid starting group. Manning in particular looks exactly like the kind of deep threat we've been desperately missing the last two years. But I'm worried about him staying healthy, and the other starters for that matter, because I feel like we don't have the kind of depth that we really need behind them. I've been wavering between seriously concerned and cautiously optimistic about the offense heading into this season. I feel like the potential is there for this to be an excellent offense. But I also think the margin of error is razor thin...

Is Fox's 51% ownership of BTN up for sale? If so, that's news to me.

Why? They have no one to blame but themselves for rolling over and going along with whatever Texas wanted for years. And now Texas has decided they don't need them anymore, and you think they deserve sympathy? They made their bed, now they lie in it. Let's not forget that literally the only reason the Big 12 has existed for the past decade is because they're the only ones dumb enough to let Texas have their own network. They tried to do that with the Pac, and the Pac was like "Haha, f#&% no!" Now Texas has decided that they can live without the Longhorn Network, and the utterly predictable has finally happened, just a little later than expected.

Would suck being stuck bearing the a larger travel burden than most if we raid the Pac, but probably what it will come down to.

The ACC schools are thought to be 'stuck' due to the massive buyouts necessary for them to leave the league. HAY GUYS LET'S DIG OURSELVES HOLE EVEN DEEPER IN THIS HOLE!

@ZRod Tim Beck is also gainfully employed at the moment, as NC State's OC. Agree about his system vs his play calling, though.

One other observation: there's been talk of the Power Five being reduced to four, but I think there's a strong chance that we'll see three tiers emerge within FBS. SEC and Big Ten at the top, the ACC and some configuration of the remains of the Big 12 and Pac as the mid tier, and G5 at the bottom. I could maybe see the AAC moving into the mid tier at some point, not necessarily with its current membership.

Once again, no idea if this guy is legit or not.... I'll say it pretty much matches what I've been thinking, at least. Oklahoma & Texas to the SEC is apparently almost a done deal. ACC teams & Notre Dame are too locked into their contracts to move. Big 8 nostalgia aside, there's not much in the remaining Big 12 worth taking. The best remaining option is to raid the Pac-12's top teams.

@Farms This is why I was saying that if we raid the Pac, we need to take more than one team.

Are those commas intended to be read in the Shatnerian manner? Or more Walkenesque?

West Virginia in the Big 12 was a weird one anyway.

Does anyone actually care about what's going on at media days right now? I feel like there's much bigger stories playing out right now. And I know which one I'd like Warren and the ADs & administrations to be focused on...

For great embedding: If this is true, then yeah, we probably need to be raiding both the Big 12 and the Pac 12...

What's the story with the medallion? Is that him & his mama?

I think we can probably forget about adding any ACC teams, including Notre Dame, due to the size of the buyouts in the ACC contracts. I'm sure there will be at least some basic contacts made to see if there's any bites, but I don't expect anything to come of it. If OU and Texas to the SEC are done deals (which is not a given), raiding the Pac seems like the most plausible option for landing some big fish that we have, despite the logistics. (Ironically, we'd be in about the best position in the conference, being right in the middle and already used to long-distance travel.) And I can't see a scenario like KU + USC happening. If Pac schools join the Big Ten, it's probably gonna have to be a package deal for at least a couple of them because they'll want to maintain some existing regional rivalries. Leverage in media contracts is the big one. The landscape is changing with the transition from cable to streaming, but that's still just another media contract. Broader recruiting territory doesn't hurt, especially if we could get more exposure in California.